The Portuguese coach has come under fire following Madrid's disappointing defence of their Liga title and their Champions League exit at the hands of Borussia Dortmund, while his difficult relationship with a number of key players such as Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas has done nothing to improve his situation.

However, Zanetti - who was part of Mourinho's treble-winning side in his final season at Inter in 2010 - insists the 50-year-old always has the team's best interests at heart, telling Marca: "I do not know what happened in the dressing-room at Madrid, but I can speak from my experience with Mourinho at Inter. I was captain under Mou and he always did what was best for the team.

"All he wants is that the team does well. If he has to drop a big name in order to achieve that, so be it. He always used the best players who he thought could give him the guarantee of a good result.

"At Inter, we were successful because everybody understood what Mourinho tried to achieve. Everybody got the message."